CHAPTER SIXTY

Payton

Alex released me from my ties and I wrapped my arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest.

“Honey, did I hurt you?” he whispered, pulling me close.

“No. It was amazing,” I whispered, hiccupping as I spoke. “Oh, my god, it was amazing.”

He chuckled and held me tighter. “I love you, Payton.”

I dropped my head back so I could meet his eyes. “I can tell.”

Alex thumbed my tears away and kissed me gently. “I can’t wait to make babies with you.”

I giggled. “Oh, yeah, babies. We haven’t had that conversation yet.”

He removed one clamp, sucking gently on my nipple, then did the same to the other. “How do they feel?”

“Like that’s going to be something regular.”

Alex laughed and climbed from the bed. “We’ll branch out to other toys later.”

“I want something spectacular for our honeymoon.”

“Done.” He put the clamps back in the box and secured them on the shelf again.

“How many kids do you want?” I asked.

“As many as you want to give me,” he said, and stretched out on the bed again.

I rolled onto his chest and kissed his neck. “Good answer.”

He grinned. “I think I’d like a couple more. I like the idea of doing it with someone this time around.”

“That all sounds good to me.”

Alex pulled the covers around us and settled his hand on my bottom. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”

“Possibly building a home less than five minutes from my parents? Yes. Does that make me weird?”

“No, that doesn’t make you weird… other things make you weird, but not that.”

I grinned up at him. “Bite me.”

“Again?” He pushed me onto my back. “Babe, you’re gonna wear me out.”

I giggled as he shimmied under the blankets and kissed my stomach. He kissed one breast and then the other before pulling me against him again. “We should probably talk about how you want to handle the house situation.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you should buy it, then I think we should have a pre-nup that states we leave with whatever we came with.”

I pushed away from him and sat up on my knees. “Excuse me?”

“Don’t get upset, baby. I’m trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

“In case we don’t work out,” he said.

Out loud. He said the dumbest thing on the fucking planet out loud.

I pointed to the door. “Get out.”

“Payton.”

“No, get out, Hawk. If you’re ready for this marriage to be over before it’s even started, then you better get used to sleeping on the sofa or guest room, or bathtub. I don’t care. Just get out.”

He let out a sigh. “Can we start over?”

“I don’t know, can you get your head out of your ass before we do?”

Alex grinned. “My reasoning is pure, baby, I promise.”

“I’m marrying you, Alex. You’re marrying me. What’s mine is yours and vice-versa. I don’t want or need a pre-nup.” I crossed my arms. “Besides, if divorce is something we discuss, I will be living off of your life insurance policy shortly after that conversation.”

“You think you’ll get away with it, huh?”

“Not a hair or a fiber, handsome. I will make sure of it.”

He dropped his head back and laughed. “Fuck me, I love you.”

I wrinkled my nose to keep from smiling. “Flattery will get you—”

My breath left my body in a “whoosh” as he threw me onto my back and kissed me before sliding his hands to my sides and tickling the shit out of me.

“I’m going to pee!” I squealed.

He grinned and tickled me again. This went on for several seconds before he let me up for air.

“We are never breaking up,” I said, emphatically.

“We’re never breaking up.”

“Say it again,” I demanded.

He grinned. “We’re never breaking up.”

“I need you to mean it, Alex, because if you don’t feel the same way I do, this won’t work.”

“I’m gettin’ used to being loved, babe. You gotta give me a minute.”

I cupped his face. “You have fifty-eight more seconds.”

“Okay, done.”

I giggled. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Do you want to watch a movie, or do you want to play some more?”

“Um, I want to watch a movie and then I want to play some more, duh.”

Alex laughed and kissed me again. “Your wish is my command.”

* * *

“We found a house!” I shouted as Alex and I walked into my parents’ house the next day.

“Back here, honey,” Mom called.

I headed to the kitchen and Lily reached her arms up for a hug. “Did you find my room?”

“When the house is built, you get to pick your very own room and Daddy will paint it whatever color you want.”

“First, we need to get qualified,” Alex pointed out. “And then we can go from there.”

I laid the brochure out on the island. “Four bedrooms plus a den, three and a half bathrooms, almost three-thousand square feet, it’ll be perfect for us.”

“It looks beautiful, honey,” Mom said.

The rest of the day was spent planning and dreaming. Since the weather was mild, Lily got to run off some energy in the backyard, and then the rest of the kids arrived with their parents for our bi-monthly Sunday dinner. As we sat at the dining room table, I smiled at Alex and leaned over to kiss him. “Life’s pretty freakin’ perfect, huh?”

He chuckled. “So it would seem.”

“I love you.”

Alex linked his fingers with mine. “Love you too, baby.”

I focused back on the conversation at hand and let myself bask in my glorious life of love and happiness… I had no idea how quickly things could change.